Auxiliary spring for vehicles.



J'. EGKHARD. AUXILIARY SPRING POB. VEHIGLES. APPLICATION FILED FEBA,1910.

962,703. j Patented Junezs, 1910.

4 SHEETB-SHEET 1.

AUXILIARY SPRING FOR 'VE'rHLEL4 BCKHARD.

APPLICATION FILED PERA. 1G10.

Patented June 28, 1910 JOHN ECKHARD, or BOSTON, MAssAeHUsETTs.

AUXILARY SPRING FOR VEHICLES.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patentd 1111328; 1910,

applicati@ ma February 4, 1910. seiai No. 542,115.

To whom it may concern:l Beit known that I, JOHN Eoxrrano, a citizen ofthe United States, .residing at Boston,

county of Suffolk, and State of Massachulike characters' on thesetts,have invented an- Improvement in Auxiliary Springs for Vehicles',oli-which the following description,- in connection with theaccompanying drawin is a specification, rawing .representing like parts.f l

This invention. relates to springs for automobiles a-nd other vehiclesandpart-icularly to springs for motor trucks and other motor veluelesdesi ned to carry heavy loads. It is a wellestabhshed fact thatl whenthe springs of avehicle of `this nature are 'of suiiicient strength andcapacity to properly sust-ain the loaded vehicle, such springs arepractically unyielding when the vehicle. iS unloaded.

My invention has forits object to provide a novel spring constructionwhich involves a main spring adaptedto yieldingly sustain the vehiclebody when it is unloaded, and an auxiliary spriner arrangement adaptedto 4be brought into pay when the body is loaded, to .coperatewith themain spring for yield:

ing'ly supporting the load.

The features wherein ply invention-reside will first be described, andthen pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a.

side View of one end of a truck frame showing a spring devlce embodylngmy invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical A section through the spring onsubstantially the line -az, Fig'. 3; Fig'. 3 is a horizontal section onthe l'ine y-y, Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged section o'n the line arf-a,Fig. 3; Fig. 5 is a top plan view of one of the lspring caps; Fig. 6 isa top plan-view of the other spring cap.-

In the drawings, 3 designates 4one of. the side .sills of an automobileframe'and 4 the .axle which may 'be either the front or the rear axle.This axle supportsa main spring 5 which is preferably-a leaf spring ofusual construction and which is secured centrally to the axle bysuitable clips 6, and at its ends is connected to the side .sill, 3 of-t-he frame in usual man-ner. 'This main spring 5 is made of such astrength and resiliency that itwilly yieldingly support the vehicle,body when the truck is empty. When madein this way it has not sulicientstrength tol support the loaded truck properly, especlally when thelatter is loaded with several-tons weight as motor trucks otttenl are.lTo pro-g vide for properlysuppo'rting the weighted l vehicle body, Iprovide an auxiliary spring ,I l

device' which comprises two coil sprin s 8" 60 and 9 that are situatedto be brought' into play to assist in supporting the bodyy when thespring 5 is flexed beyond a predeter+ mined point. I propose to use oneof these auxiliary spring mechanisms at each end of each axle and undereach end of each ofthe side sills3 of the frame, although the numberofthese frames may be varied without departing from the invention. Inthe embodnnent herein shownthere is one auxiliary spring device for eachof 'the `main A Asprings 5. The two auxiliary'A springs Sand 9 of eachdevice-are supported in aspring support 10 which is herein shown as abase plate that rest-son the' main spring 5 and may be secured theretoAin any suitable Way, as, for instance', by the bolts of the clips 6,Thel two springs 8 and 9 are of different strengths, the spring 8 beingstronger. and less 4resilient than the ,spring 9. The base plate 10 is'shown a'shavingthe outer `annular flange A11 which surroundsthe lowerend ofthe spring Sand-holds it in position,

andanother annular fiange 12 which forms a cup within which the spring 9is received.

A cap 13 rests on top of spring 8 and an-v.

other-cap 14 rests on top of the spring v9. The cap 13 is shown asprovided with' the central aperture 30 through which .the spring 9extends, and the cap 14 is provided .with the annular liange 31 thatforms a re- -cess Within, which the upper end ofthe spring 9 is receivedand that is adapted to enter the aperture 30.

Y, Means are provided for limiting the expansive movement of each of thesprings so that under normal conditions the side'sills.

3 of the vehicle will! be supported only by the .main springs 5.' -Oneconvenient way of accomplishing this is by means of Atie-rods 15 andl'that tie the caps 13 and 14 to the base plate or support 10. As hereinshown, the cap 14 is provided with two ears 17 to 'which the: tie-rods.16 are secured, s aid tierods assin down throil h Vtwo ears -18 fornieont ebase 1 0. T e cap 13 is also provided with-two ears 19,to1which thetierods 15 are secured, said tie-rods'l assmg down through ears. 20 onthe -base p ate 10. The cap.13 1s also preferably provided with otherears 21 situated so that the tie-rods 16 Will pass dow'n therethrough.It will thus beseenfthat these tie-rods 15 and 16 serve to hold the capsin place and also limit the expansive movement of the springs. The tie-.rods 15 are suiciently shorter than thc tierods 16 so that undernormalrconditions the cap 14 will be somewhat above the cap 13,

asseen plainly iii-Figs. 1 and 2. If desired,

sie

I may place springs 22 on the tie-rods below the base so as' to preventany rattle of the parts when the vehicle is unloaded. A

y Under normal conditionswhe'n' he vehicle' is unloaded, the `'springsare in Athe position shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and the main springsl 5 areof proper strength to yieldingly and resiliently support thevehiclevlmdy.l When the body is partially loaded, the spring 5 will exsufficiently to permit the body to Colne ,doivn ontothe cap v111i,andthe spring 9 Will 'then be brought into playto .assist the spring 5in supporting the load.' lVhcn the truck is fully loaded, the spring 9is compressed suliiciently to bring the vcap 14: down into contact withthe cap 13, as shown Iin Fig. 4, and thereafter both of the-auxiliarysprings 8 and 9 act. together toassist in re'' siliently supporting theload. 'Various changes in the construction of the part-s maybe madewithout depart-ing from the invention; Havingfully described myinvention, what. I claim as new and desire to secure 'by LcttersPa-te'ntis y 1. In a vehicle, the combination with an axle, of a vehicle body, amain spring supported by the axleand sustaining the body,

an auxiliary spring device comprising aspring holder carried by theaxle, two coil 4springs carried by said ,'holder, one of greaterstrength than the other. a cap (or passing loosely through the holder,the tiel rods secured to the cap for the spring ol greater strengthbeingof less length than the other tie-rods. l

3. In a vehicle, the combination with an axle, of a vehicle body, a'mainspring supported by the axle and sustaining the body, an 'auxiliaryspring device comprisinga spring holdercarried by the axle, two coilsprings carried by said holder, one of greater strength tlian the other,a cap for each spring,'tierods` secured to each cap and pass,

ing loosely through the holder, one of said caps having earsfthereonthrough which the ltie-rods of the other cap pass, and a spring engagingeach tic-rod and serving to' yield? ingly hold the caps against the coilsprings.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name .to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN Eolinanii).

lVitnesses: l

LOUIS C. SMITH, THOMAS J. DRUMMOND.

l y i

